RESEARCH

There is increasing awareness in the general public of the negative risks of spanking. Research shows a 93% agreement that spanking is harmful. Spanking is consistently linked to increased behavioral problems, increased aggression and defiance, and lower moral internalization. It is also linked to an increased risk of mental illness in adolescence, drug and alcohol abuse, and a greater likelihood of domestic violence into adulthood. Spanking little children is particularly problematic, due to the profound effect that negative experiences can have on the rapid development of the brain in the first few years of life.

Spanking Still Overwhelmingly Acceptable

Formal Policy Statements

The Centers for Disease Control has published a technical package addressing ending violence against children calling for both educational and legislative action to end the practice of corporal punishment in the home and to promote positive parenting.

The National Women’s Law Center along with 79 organizations has written a formal letter to local and state educational agencies and policymakers calling for an end to corporal punishment in schools.

American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children(APSAC), 2016 APSAC is committed to ending all abuse of children and promoting children’s welfare. Given the research evidence about the harms associated with corporal punishment, APSAC opposes hitting children for discipline or other purposes. APSAC calls for the elimination of all forms of corporal punishment in part because it increases children’s risk for physical abuse.

The National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners (NAPNAP) believes that to achieve a healthy environment for children it is necessary to eliminate corporal punishment in schools and other settings where children are cared for or educated. In addition, parents must be educated about harmful effects of CP and instructed about effective alternative forms of discipline.

American Psychoanalytic Association(APsaA) condemns the use of physical punishment (corporal punishment) in the discipline of children and recommends alternative methods that enhance children’s capacities to develop healthy emotional lives, tolerate frustration, regulate internal tensions, and behave in socially acceptable ways.

Cornel University, College of Human Ecologystrongly opposes striking a child for any reason. Spanking is NEVER recommended.

A look at the research and the neuroscience…

Drs. Murray Straus and Elizabeth Gershoff, leading researchers on the practice of corporal punishment, warn, “The research is clear – parents should NEVER spank their children.”

Dr. Martin Teicher, Neuroscientist and Researcher on Early Abuse & Neglect and Brain Development discusses the effect of spanking on brain development.

Editor-in-Cheif calls for Ban on Spanking in Home based upon the Research

Spanking young children shows a transactional relationship increasing chance of more spanking (for boys) and cascading effect on future development from ages 1 – 3 and 3-5. Transactional and Cascading Relations Between Early Spanking and Children’s Social-Emotional Development

Dr. Bugental, The hormonal costs of subtle forms of infant maltreatment, Department of Psychology, University of California, Santa Barbara; US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health; January 2003

Sweden banned spanking in the home in 1979, and has conducted a 30-year-long longitudinal study to understand its results….